Homes could be bought by the council and rented at full-market value to help ease Reading's housing crisis.

A five-year plan has been drawn up by Reading Borough Council to tackle the issue in the town with measures including setting up a buy to let housing company and working more closely with the private rented sector.

The council is currently using more and more temporary accommodation, such as bed and breakfasts, to house people. But it has now implemented a draft Homelessness Strategy, aimed at addressing some of the most critical issues.

The plans include include establishing a housing company which would be wholly-owned by the council. This would buy properties on the open market with a proportion let at full-market rent levels to cross-subsidise others rented at sub-market rents to those at risk of homelessness.

Another proposal is to place homeless people in private rented accommodation, sourced through the Rent Guarantee Scheme and potentially through the new housing company.

"Unprecedented homeless problem"

Councillor Richard Davies, lead councillor for housing, said: "The proposals we are putting forward in the draft Homelessness Strategy constitute a serious plan to tackle the problems of homelessness and long-term bed and breakfast stays which can have such an impact on Reading families.

"It's an enormous problem for us to tackle and the ambition is to eliminate long-stays in B&Bs over the five years.

"The plans are bold and ambitious, there is no doubt about that, but we have to do everything we can to tackle this unprecedented homeless problem caused by failure of the government to give people hope of an affordable, secure place to live."

Members of the council's housing, neighbourhood, and leisure committee will consider the draft Homelessness Strategy at a meeting on Wednesday, November 18.

The council is also holding a housing summit the day before at Reading town hall, which is a public event and will attempt to highlight the issues of concern and propose ways of resolving them.